Rise & Shine: Meet Vitti’s top advisers

Good morning! When we requested pay data for Detroit’s main district, we hoped it would shed light on the reforms Superintendent Nikolai Vitti has made in his first year and a half on the job. It did, but it took three stories: one about raises for teachers, one about changes in the principals’ offices, and now, this week, one about the 11 top administrators who report directly to Vitti.

Quite a bit has changed in Vitti’s cabinet since we last checked in a year and a half ago. My story puts names to faces, as well as salaries, key projects, and personal backgrounds.

Please keep scrolling for the weekend’s education news. Also, we’re asking teachers to send us their resolutions for 2019. If you’re an educator, click here to share what you’re planning to change in your classroom this year.

As always, thanks for reading. May the new year be full of learning.

— Koby Levin, reporter

Rise & Shine is Chalkbeat’s morning digest of education news. Subscribe to have it delivered to your inbox.

THE CABINET A brief introduction to the top administrators in the Detroit district: what they do, where they’re from, and what they’re paid. Vitti’s cabinet has changed substantially since his first months in Detroit. Several top officials have left, while others who held interim positions were replaced by permanent candidates. Chalkbeat

CONTRACT FAIL A dispute sparked by a charter school leader who refused to leave after being fired continues to roil the school. In the latest episode, lawyers from one side of the dispute are refusing to sign a mutual agreement. The Detroit News

VIRTUAL PRE-K? Detroit’s public TV station wants to help improve early childhood education in the city. It’s supporting brick-and-mortar programs and talking about ways its productions could help kids learn. Crain’s

A FAIRER APPROACH?A Detroit businessman argues in a letter to the editor that state lawmakers should develop a “new, fairer approach [to school funding] that meets the wide-ranging needs of all students.” Crain’s

LOOKING ELSEWHERE New government data shows that teachers are quitting their jobs at the highest rates ever, due in part to complaints of low pay and overwork. WXYZ

L.A. TEACHER STRIKE? Teacher strikes that spread across the country last year could soon arrive in the nation’s second-largest school district. Los Angeles teachers are pondering a strike over concerns about working conditions and pay. ChalkbeatWall Street JournalNew York TimesUSA Today

REPAIRS AND RENT A “complete your degree” scholarship program focuses on the costs of college besides tuition in a bid to help students graduate on time. Bridge Magazine